Mr. Speaker, grade 11 history students in Flin Flon held discussions on the solicitor general's sharing of sensitive information. Here are a few comments: “He is trying to cover his behind. He should resign before he gets himself and his party—”

Mr. Speaker, “he should resign before he gets himself and his party into more trouble. He should resign. He is showing his incompetence and irresponsibility. He should resign because he represents the RCMP. If I were an RCMP I would not want him representing me”.

This class is listening today. I ask the Deputy Prime Minister why does this government continue to behave in a way that disappoints young Canadians.

On August 26, 435 employees of Air Atlantic in St. John's and Halifax were given notice of termination as of midnight October 24. This is only eight weeks of notice. Under section 212 of the Canadian Labour Code there must be 16 weeks of notice of termination.

Subsequently the company applied for and was given a waiver. Now these employees out either eight weeks notice or salary in lieu of notice.

Why is the Minister of Labour taking money out of the pockets of these labourers and giving it to the company?

Mr. Speaker, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development met in Ottawa to discuss electronic commerce. The issue of taxation of goods and services is a very serious one and one of great concern to many Canadians.

Can the minister of revenue explain to us what the procedure will be to analyse the application of this tax and actual taxation procedure?

Mr. Speaker, we had some very interesting meetings this week. We had the ministerial conference of OECD countries addressing the very important issue of electronic commerce and taxation of electronic commerce.

One thing agreed on was we do not need new taxes on business done on the Internet. We want to encourage business. We want to make sure there is neutrality. Fundamental principles were agreed on this week by the OECD ministers that will ensure we have growth on the Internet and that Canada can play a leading role in electronic commerce.

Mr. Speaker, B.C. forest practices are among the best in the world. Forest products are Canada's largest export. A million Canadian jobs depend on the forest industry.

Meanwhile Greenpeace is organizing pressure tactics on major buyers in Europe and in the U.S. for B.C. forest products. It is spending $1 million to put B.C. forest workers and their families on welfare. The government has to take sides.

Whose side is the government on, Greenpeace or a million Canadian workers?

Ralph GoodaleLiberalMinister of Natural Resources and Minister responsible for the Canadian Wheat Board

Mr. Speaker, I have had the opportunity to review this issue in considerable depth with the responsible minister in the B.C. government. It was also a subject of discussion at the most recent meeting of Canadian forestry ministers.

Together with the industry, all levels of government are working on the appropriate strategy to make sure the world understands sustainable development practices in the Canadian forest industry and to explain to the world that when we manage our forests we do it properly and in a way that the world can rely on. We will continue to explain the Canadian case whenever we have that opportunity.

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are concerned about this government's inaction on climate change.

In June of this year 25 Order of Canada recipients declared immediate action on climate changes is required. The infrastructure works programs ends in March 1999 and municipalities are calling for an extension for climate related projects.

What action will the Minister of Finance include in his budget to support municipal climate projects?

Ralph GoodaleLiberalMinister of Natural Resources and Minister responsible for the Canadian Wheat Board

Mr. Speaker, the Government of Canada, prior to the last budget, was investing something in the order of $100 million a year in climate change related solutions.

In the last budget we also added the climate change action fund which is an additional $150 million over the next three years to accelerate the process, particularly in relation to new technology development and deployment.

The government is moving with the provinces and with the private sector in developing the implementation program which we hope to have completed by the end of 1999. What we want is a truly Team Canada effort.

Mr. Speaker, recently Canada Post announced changes to postal services in New Brunswick to accommodate the 911 emergency services.

Residents of the town of Bear Island have always been well served by the nearby post offices in Nackawic and Keswick. However, the proposed changes mean that postal services are being moved to Burtt's Corner, a great distance from Bear Island.

Can the minister assure Bear Island residents that Canada Post will restore full postal services in their area?

Mr. Speaker, because of the 911 change in the province of New Brunswick there has been a restructuring and Canada Post has been co-operating with all the stakeholders to accommodate Canadian citizens and will continue to do so.

If the hon. member has a specific case I will be glad to look into it to see what I can do.

Mr. Speaker, this report was filed yesterday by the parliamentary secretary here in the House.

This report is important for a couple of reasons. It is, first of all, the government living up to a commitment it made that our military and its operations would become more open and transparent, more reports like this would be filed with this parliament, they would be made public, they would be available for public discussion such as at the Standing Committee on National Defence and Veterans Affairs.

With this report we have delivered on that. There are more reports to come. This report gives us the state of the Canadian military.

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister tried very hard to carry out what he said in 1990 through asking for the support of the Canadian people and the Reform Party on the Charlottetown accord.

The Reform Party opposed the Charlottetown accord. This was a major factor in it's not being adopted. Reformers have to bear the blame for the fact that the Charlottetown accord was defeated and that we do not have an elected Senate right now. Let the record show it is the fault of the Reform Party. It speaks one way and acts another.

Yesterday, my colleague from Mercier appealed to the dignity of the Solicitor General to put an end to the circus atmosphere into which this House has been plunged for the past week because of him. I am offering the minister another chance.

Will the Solicitor General do the honourable thing and step down, so we can get on with real issues when we come back in another week?

Mr. Speaker, last night the Prime Minister hopped on the old Challenger and jetted out to my riding for a $300 a plate Liberal fundraiser.

There he revealed what he and his party really feel about the APEC pepper spray incident. He made a joke about having pepper steak instead of rubber chicken whenever he is in western Canada.

The only thing more sickening than the Prime Minister's dirty little jokes is the fact 1,000 Liberal Party faithfuls clapped and laughed.

What kind of people make jokes about blinding Canadian kids with pepper spray? What is the government's excuse for the second time the Prime Minister has made callous and insensitive jokes about blinding Canadian kids with pepper spray?